Just short of two years I attended a number of events in Belfast Pride, the 2017 edition. There had been a raft of things to do, and that was by the end of the fourth day since its launch. Like I think most people in the community, I had picked and chosen what I wanted to see; I went along to The ‘Law’ event not realising I needed a ticket (my fault), then I took myself to watch Marquee which was on at the Queen’s Film Theatre (even though I knew it was also being shown on BBC4 on Monday night), and the day before I went along to see the ‘Visage’ exhibition of photographs of six of Belfast’s most formidable ‘Drag’ Queens (Visions of Loveliness), which was being held at the
Artcetera Studio in Rosemary Street, Belfast. This comprised of a series of portrait photographs with each of studies being depicted in both their male and drag identities, which resulted in 6 A1 sized hung photographs and then each photograph has been broken down into stip fitted onto a
Within the Visions of Loveliness exhibition, each photograph was coloured in the 6 primary colours of the ‘rainbow flag’:-
- Red – Matthew / Cherrie Ontop
- Orange – Adam James Renshaw / Rusty Hinges
- Yellow – Marcus Hunter-Neill / Portia Di’ Monte
- Green – Michael Hillman / Misty Falls
- Blue – Joshua Cargill / Blu Hydrangea
- Violet – Robert McCready / Titti Von Tramp
I really enjoyed this exhibition, but what would have possibly made it more interesting is possibly some audio interviews with each of the 6, or even if possible some video interview tapes – possibly generated pre-Pride from questions gathered within the community.
To this also a calendar maybe showing their forthcoming shows for the next 3-6 months would also have been a welcome addition.
This is an area which needs to be documented and explored more, to enable more understanding and acceptance and to move away from the judgemental.